Oakland Apartments Headed to Foreclosure After Default

An Oakland multifamily development is headed toward foreclosure as the city’s apartment market recovers from its pandemic downturn.

Lenders have scheduled a July 28 foreclosure auction for Mason at Hive, a 105-unit apartment building in Uptown Oakland, after the ownership entity managed by Oakland-based Signature Development defaulted on a $39.7 million loan secured by the property last year, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The notice lists roughly $35 million in unpaid debt. The Alameda County tax assessor’s office valued the Mason at Hive property, which includes 2350 and 2380 Valley Street and 421 24th Street, at roughly $36 million as of this month.

The loan was originated in 2016 and modified in 2020 before maturing in 2025. Chicago Title Insurance Company and Bellwether Enterprise Mortgage Investments recorded a notice of default in August 2025 and have now moved to the next step in the foreclosure process.

The apartment building is part of the larger Hive mixed-use development, a seven-building project that transformed a long-vacant car dealership into apartments, offices, retail and restaurants. When it opened in 2015, the project was viewed as a milestone for Oakland’s revival, helping reshape Uptown and signaling confidence in the city’s ability to support new market-rate housing.

Mason at Hive has since become another casualty of Oakland’s post-pandemic apartment market. Developers delivered roughly 10,000 new housing units between 2018 and 2023, just as remote work hollowed out downtown office activity and weakened demand. Falling rents, elevated interest rates and tighter lending conditions have left many recently completed apartment projects unable to refinance construction debt.

Signature Development Founder Mike Ghielmetti previously blamed the property’s struggles on broader market conditions and Oakland’s “slow and anemic recovery,” he told the Business Times. Ghielmetti confirmed that Signature Development is working with lenders and investors on a resolution to avoid a foreclosure auction.

The Oakland market appears to be stabilizing, however. Oakland rents climbed 6.2 percent year over year, representing the city’s strongest annual increase in three years, according to Zumper data cited by the Business Times.

— Chris Malone Méndez